The Hindu : Kerala News : Tribals to relaunch agitation for land

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Tribals to relaunch agitation for land

Government accused of not honouring deal

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With resentment brewing among tribals over the delay in allotting land to all the landless among them, the State is all set to witness another round of agitation on the issue.

With the 2001 deal struck between the A.K. Antony Government and the tribal leader C.K. Janu yielding no tangible results, an Adivasi agitation had turned violent at Muthanga in 2003 leading to the death of a tribal and a police constable.

As per the deal worked out after a month-long stir by the tribals who erected tents before the Secretariat, it was agreed to provide cultivable land to 52,000 identified landless tribal families, besides extending financial support for their resettlement.

The Government had promised that the agreement would be implemented from January 2002. However, the delay in fulfilling the promise led to the Muthanga incident, which put a strain on the relationship Mr. Antony had initially established with the tribals.

The Government has provided land only to 2,400 families so far and in many places, the promised financial support mechanism is yet to be put in place, says M. Geethanandan, convener of the Rashtriya Mahasabha, a political platform of various tribal outfits.

According to him, the tribals have not yet been provided with necessary legal protection to the land given to them and the absence of basic facilities has forced tribals in some areas to give up the land given to them.

After Oommen Chandy took over as Chief Minister, the tribal problem has received scant attention. The tribals will relaunch the ``Land assertion movement'' in September and the agitation will be similar to previous stirs by erecting settlements in forest land, he says.

According to Mr. Geethanandan, the Government is yet to fulfil its promise to distribute half of the 7,500 acres of the Aralam farm in Kannur which it acquired from the Centre by paying Rs.42

crores.

Meanwhile, official sources claim that the Government has so far distributed 5,173 acres of land to 3,208 landless tribal families. District Collectors have identified some more land for distribution, but the land could not be allotted due to technical and legal problems, the sources said.

Another cause for the delay is that the Government has reversed its earlier decision to purchase private land for distribution among tribals. The sources deny the charge that the Government is not extending resettlement packages to those who have been given assigned land. A sum of Rs.75,000 each has been sanctioned for house construction and steps taken to provide infrastructure facilities. Steps have also been taken to distribute land available at Aralam. — PTI

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